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Oklahoma National Guard Unit Carries on Family Tradition

By Oklahoma Frontline·February 14, 2014

The Desert Storm Legacy

LAWTON, Okla. — More than 20 years ago, their fathers answered the call and left Oklahoma for war in the Persian Gulf. In late 1990, 429 Citizen-Soldiers from Battery A, 1st Battalion, 158th Field Artillery Regiment, 45th Fires Brigade of the Oklahoma Army National Guard departed for the Gulf War as part of the massive coalition force assembled to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi occupation. Their performance in combat earned recognition at the highest levels of military command.

General Norman Schwarzkopf Jr., commander of coalition forces during Operation Desert Storm, singled out the Reserve Component artillery units for distinction, writing that "they are part of the ground attack, with the Oklahomans achieving the highest rate of fire in Third Army." The soldiers of the 158th fired 903 rockets and traveled hundreds of kilometers in support of VII Corps during the ground offensive, contributing decisively to one of the most successful conventional military campaigns in modern history. The achievement set a standard of excellence that would define the regiment for generations to come.

In the years following September 11, 2001, the 158th Field Artillery deployed thousands of soldiers to Afghanistan and Iraq. But the nature of those conflicts meant that the regiment's soldiers served primarily in security, convoy, and entry control point missions rather than the traditional field artillery role they had trained for. The rocket launchers that defined the regiment's identity sat largely unused as counterinsurgency operations demanded a different set of skills. That was about to change.

Back in Action in Afghanistan

On October 14, 2013, Battery A, 1st Battalion, 158th Field Artillery Regiment deployed to Afghanistan to support Regional Command South with a genuine field artillery mission. It was the first time since Desert Storm that the regiment had deployed specifically to perform the indirect fire support role at the heart of its identity and training. The unit's HIMARS — High Mobility Artillery Rocket System — launchers were set up and ready for action upon arrival.

The first months of the deployment looked familiar despite the new mission designation. Battery A's soldiers conducted personal security details, route convoy clearance, and entry control point operations, much as previous rotations had done. The artillery systems were in position, but the fire missions had not yet come. The soldiers continued their security duties with the professionalism that characterizes the Guard's Afghanistan deployments, while remaining ready to execute the artillery mission at a moment's notice.

That moment came on January 16, 2014, when Battery A's 1st Fire Platoon received the mission to launch two rockets against enemy targets, supporting Combined Task Force Duke. The rockets found their mark, destroying an enemy communications repeater site that had been used to coordinate insurgent operations against coalition forces in the area. The mission was a success in every respect — militarily effective, precise, and accomplished without incident by a crew that had trained for exactly this kind of engagement.

The crew that executed the mission included gunner Spc. Joshua Hale of Chickasha, Oklahoma; driver Staff Sgt. Steven Stanley of Carnegie, Oklahoma; and launcher chief Sgt. Matthew Schoolfield of Ninnekah, Oklahoma. Their combined effort brought a decisive end to one enemy capability and demonstrated that the 158th Field Artillery had fully reclaimed its identity as a combat fires unit after years of serving in roles unrelated to its core mission.

The Father-Son Connection

What made the January 16 fire mission particularly resonant went beyond its tactical significance. Spc. Joshua Hale, the gunner on the HIMARS launcher, is the son of Spc. Chad Hale, who served in Battery B of the same battalion during Desert Storm more than two decades earlier. Sgt. Matthew Schoolfield, the launcher chief, is the son of Sgt. Richard Schoolfield, who served in Battery C of the same battalion during that same Desert Storm deployment. Two members of the crew that fired the 158th's first combat rockets in Afghanistan came from families with direct personal ties to the regiment's most celebrated earlier combat mission.

Col. Mike Chase, commander of the 45th Fires Brigade, recognized the profound significance of this generational connection. "The fact that we have soldiers providing fire support in combat in the same battalion that their fathers served with in combat speaks volumes about who we are as the Guard," Chase said. He added that while many units can metaphorically claim to be a family or a "Band of Brothers," for the 158th in this case, "it's factual." The father-son bonds between Hale and Schoolfield and their Desert Storm veteran fathers represent the most literal possible expression of a unit's living connection to its own history.

Battery A was expected to return home later in 2014, completing a deployment that had written a new chapter in the long story of the 158th Field Artillery Regiment. From the rockets fired during Desert Storm by soldiers including the fathers of Hale and Schoolfield, to the precision HIMARS strikes of their sons in Afghanistan, the regiment's history of combat fires continues to be written by Oklahomans who carry their family's legacy of service in the same vehicles and with the same weapons their predecessors used to distinguish themselves before them.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the 158th Field Artillery Regiment and what is its history?

The 158th Field Artillery Regiment is a storied unit of the Oklahoma Army National Guard with a history of service stretching across multiple American conflicts. Organized as part of the 45th Fires Brigade, the regiment represents one of Oklahoma's premier artillery capabilities, fielding soldiers trained to provide indirect fire support to ground combat units at ranges far exceeding those of direct-fire weapons. The regiment's lineage connects it to a long tradition of Oklahoma artillery service that predates World War II and continues through the present day.

During Operation Desert Storm in 1990 and 1991, the 158th Field Artillery Regiment deployed to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait as part of the coalition force assembled to expel Iraqi forces from Kuwait. The 429 Citizen-Soldiers who left Oklahoma for the Gulf War in late 1990 performed with exceptional distinction, earning specific praise from General Norman Schwarzkopf Jr., the commander of coalition forces. Schwarzkopf wrote that the Reserve Component artillery units, including the Oklahomans, were "part of the ground attack" and that they "achieved the highest rate of fire in Third Army." That record of excellence — 903 rockets fired and hundreds of kilometers traveled in support of VII Corps — established a standard that subsequent generations of 158th soldiers would aspire to match.

In the years following September 11, 2001, the 158th deployed thousands of soldiers to Afghanistan and Iraq in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. However, the nature of those deployments changed with the operational environment: rather than performing traditional artillery fire missions, the regiment's soldiers were tasked primarily with security duties, convoy escorts, and entry control point operations. The heavy artillery systems and rocket launchers of the regiment sat largely unused as the counter-IED and counterinsurgency nature of both wars demanded infantry-centric skills more than traditional indirect fire support.

That changed on October 14, 2013, when Battery A, 1st Battalion, 158th Field Artillery Regiment deployed to Afghanistan specifically to perform a field artillery mission in support of Regional Command South. After years of the regiment's soldiers serving in support roles unrelated to their core artillery training, Battery A was finally given the opportunity to do what field artillerists train their entire careers to do: provide precision indirect fire support to ground forces engaged with the enemy. The deployment represented both a tactical necessity and a symbolic restoration of the regiment's artillery identity.

What is the HIMARS weapons system?

The High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, known by its acronym HIMARS, is one of the United States Army's most capable and versatile indirect fire systems. Mounted on a wheeled truck chassis rather than a tracked vehicle, HIMARS provides greater strategic and tactical mobility than older tracked artillery systems, allowing it to be transported by C-130 cargo aircraft and to move quickly across road networks in operational environments. The system can fire a variety of munitions including unguided rockets, GPS-guided rockets with extended range, and, when equipped with the appropriate pod, the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), which provides a precision strike capability at ranges exceeding 150 miles.

The standard rocket munition for HIMARS is the M30 or M31 Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) rocket, which uses GPS guidance to achieve accuracy within meters at ranges of approximately 45 miles. This precision capability represents a revolutionary improvement over earlier generations of unguided rockets that required large numbers of projectiles to achieve the same effects. A single GMLRS rocket can destroy a specific target with minimal collateral damage, making it well suited for the complex counterinsurgency environment of Afghanistan, where civilian protection is a paramount operational and political concern.

Battery A's HIMARS launchers were set up and ready for action from the early days of the deployment, but the unit spent its first months performing security and convoy escort duties rather than its primary artillery mission. This common experience in Afghanistan reflected the operational reality that ground commanders in many areas needed more infantry capacity than artillery support. When Battery A's 1st Fire Platoon finally received the mission to fire on January 16, 2014, the target was an enemy communications repeater site used to coordinate insurgent operations — exactly the kind of high-value, time-sensitive target for which GMLRS precision is ideally suited.

The destruction of the enemy communications repeater by Battery A's HIMARS rockets had immediate tactical effects, degrading the ability of insurgents to coordinate operations against Combined Task Force Duke and the coalition forces it comprised. The mission also demonstrated the enduring relevance of field artillery in counterinsurgency operations when precision munitions are available, and it validated the decision to deploy Battery A with its full artillery capability rather than simply converting the unit to an infantry role as had been done with some artillery units in earlier phases of the Afghanistan campaign.

What was Operation Desert Storm and Oklahoma's role in it?

Operation Desert Storm was the combat phase of the Persian Gulf War, conducted from January 17 to February 28, 1991, to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi occupation following Saddam Hussein's invasion of that country in August 1990. A coalition of 35 nations assembled under American leadership and eventually comprising more than 700,000 military personnel, including roughly 540,000 Americans. The operation began with an intensive air campaign that lasted approximately 40 days, followed by a ground offensive that lasted just 100 hours and resulted in the complete defeat of Iraqi forces in Kuwait and southern Iraq. It was one of the most decisive conventional military victories in modern history.

Oklahoma's National Guard contributed significantly to the Desert Storm effort through the deployment of the 158th Field Artillery Regiment. The 429 Citizen-Soldiers who left Oklahoma in late 1990 spent months in Saudi Arabia before participating in the ground offensive in February 1991. Their performance during the ground war earned exceptional commendation from General Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. himself, who noted that the Oklahoma artillerists achieved the highest rate of fire in Third Army during the offensive. The regiment fired 903 rockets and traveled hundreds of kilometers in support of VII Corps, the heavy armor force that made the famous "left hook" maneuver that enveloped and destroyed Iraq's Republican Guard divisions.

For the soldiers of Battery A, 1st Battalion, 158th Field Artillery, the Desert Storm legacy was not an abstraction but a family story. Soldiers like Spc. Joshua Hale of Chickasha and Sgt. Matthew Schoolfield of Ninnekah grew up hearing about Desert Storm from their fathers, who had served in the same battalion. Hale's father, Spc. Chad Hale, served in Battery B during Desert Storm, while Schoolfield's father, Sgt. Richard Schoolfield, served in Battery C. These family connections transformed the regiment's history from institutional memory into personal heritage, motivating each generation to live up to the standard set by those who came before.

The contrast between the Desert Storm deployment and the post-9/11 deployments of the 158th illustrates how dramatically the nature of American military operations changed over two decades. Desert Storm was a high-intensity conventional conflict in which artillery played a central and decisive role. The conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan were protracted counterinsurgency campaigns in which artillery found less direct application, and Oklahoma's artillerists served primarily in infantry-type roles for years. Battery A's January 2014 fire mission in Afghanistan represented in some sense a return to the regiment's foundational identity as a fighting artillery unit, echoing the combat fires of their fathers' generation.

What does multi-generational military service mean for the Oklahoma National Guard?

Multi-generational military service is a defining characteristic of many National Guard units, including the 158th Field Artillery Regiment, where father-son connections have been a source of unit pride and cohesion for decades. When soldiers join the same unit in which their fathers or grandfathers served, they bring with them a personal stake in the unit's reputation and history that goes beyond institutional loyalty. They carry family stories of deployments, battles, and sacrifices that give them a visceral connection to the unit's heritage, and they feel the weight of living up to a standard set by people they love and respect. This intergenerational bond is a powerful force multiplier for unit morale and esprit de corps.

Col. Mike Chase, commander of the 45th Fires Brigade, articulated the significance of the father-son connection beautifully when he noted: "The fact that we have soldiers providing fire support in combat in the same battalion that their fathers served with in combat speaks volumes about who we are as the Guard." His observation that many units can metaphorically claim to be a family or a "Band of Brothers" but that for the 158th it was literally true captures something essential about the Guard's relationship with the communities it serves. These are not just colleagues in uniform; they are in some cases actual family members separated by a generation of service.

The Oklahoma National Guard's embeddedness in the communities and families of the state creates a recruitment and retention dynamic that differs from the active military's more transient force structure. Guard soldiers often live their entire careers — both military and civilian — within the same region, building relationships with fellow soldiers across multiple generations of service. A young soldier joining a Guard unit today may train with veterans whose fathers served alongside his own father or grandfather, creating chains of mentorship and connection that span decades. This continuity of community is one of the Guard's greatest strengths and most distinctive characteristics.

The story of Battery A's first fire mission in Afghanistan, with soldiers whose Desert Storm veteran fathers had served in the same battalion, resonated deeply with the Oklahoma military community because it made tangible what is usually invisible: the continuous thread of service that connects generations of Oklahoma families to the same units, the same mission, and the same values. For Spc. Hale and Sgt. Schoolfield, pulling the trigger on their HIMARS launchers was not just the fulfillment of a military mission; it was a moment of connection with their fathers' experience that few people outside the Guard community can fully appreciate.

What is the 45th Fires Brigade and how does it support Oklahoma's defense?

The 45th Fires Brigade is an Oklahoma Army National Guard formation that provides field artillery fire support, air defense artillery, and associated fires planning and coordination capabilities to the 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team and other supported forces. The brigade is the parent organization for several artillery and fires support units throughout Oklahoma, including the 158th Field Artillery Regiment and its subordinate battalions. As a brigade-level fires headquarters, the 45th Fires Brigade is responsible for planning and synchronizing indirect fire support across large-scale operations, integrating rockets, missiles, mortars, and other fires with air support and other combat capabilities.

Based in Mustang, Oklahoma, the 45th Fires Brigade draws soldiers from communities across the state, continuing the tradition of citizen-soldiering that has characterized Oklahoma's military forces since statehood. The brigade's heritage connects it to the famous 45th Infantry Division of World War II, one of the most decorated American divisions of that conflict, and to the long history of Oklahoma National Guard service in every major American military commitment since. That heritage is a source of institutional pride that motivates current soldiers to maintain the high standards set by those who came before them.

Col. Mike Chase, who commanded the 45th Fires Brigade during Battery A's Afghanistan deployment, was effusive in his praise for the significance of the unit's first combat fire mission and the family connections that made it particularly meaningful. His leadership of the brigade during this period reflected both operational competence and a deep appreciation for the human dimensions of National Guard service — the family stories, community ties, and generational bonds that make Guard units something more than simply military organizations. Under his command, the brigade contributed importantly to coalition operations in Afghanistan while maintaining its readiness responsibilities at home.

The 45th Fires Brigade's role in Oklahoma's defense encompasses both the federal mission of supporting overseas combat operations and the state mission of providing response capability for natural disasters and domestic emergencies. Oklahoma's geography makes it vulnerable to tornadoes, flooding, ice storms, and other natural disasters that periodically require military support for rescue operations, logistics support, and civil authority assistance. The brigade's vehicles, communications systems, and trained personnel make it a valuable asset for state emergency response, ensuring that the Guard's fires capability contributes to Oklahoma's security in multiple dimensions beyond its core artillery mission.